Fox RP23 vs CCDB air

CCDB is infinitely more tuneable, and offers a plusher ride - closer to the feel of a coil shock. If you're a "set it and forget it" kind of rider there is nothing wrong with the RP23, and it's lighter. You will find the ride to be harsher and probably more difficult to dial in to that "perfect" feeling.

wrt the rp23 the 17mm sag setting in the 57mm travel (~30%) will be slightly too soft for really heavy hits, but will climb amazingly and will have great small bump compliance.

when you stiffen the rp23 to a bit less than 30% sag, you will lose a tiny bit of the activity in the rear end but the bike will still climb great as always. Pump it up too much and have too little sag and youll start to notice a loss in performance and it will skip over small stuff.

with the ccdb (AIR OR COIL) you will be able to have more sag and not go through as much travel on big hits, and still manage to get the small bump compliance...BUT...you have to spend a fair bit time dialling this in, its not a 2 minute job and if you get it wrong it wont be as good as the rp23.

i think that the sweet spot for the rp23 is strictly 27% to 28% sag (aim for 15.5mm). check the rp23 pressure after every outing to keep it dialled in.

No time on a RP23 on my Knolly. But I will say the base settings outlined at the Cane Creek website and the dialogue provided by Knolly take a lot of the mystery out of tuning the DB. And you can "set and forget" the DB Air, but you will be rewarded by making small adjustments.

What others have said is pretty accurate. I would add that the CCDBair has more mid-stroke support and is a generally more active feeling shock. High speed performance through rocky terrain is much more controlled and composed than the Fox.

Thank you for the input. So I guess the question boils down to is the extra weight of the ccdb air over the rp23 worth it for a enduro race bike? Basically offering a slightly more controlled ride.
As my experience with the rp23 shock has me leaving the shock active on the climbing & turning the pro pedal switch on for the downhills for some g out or low speed compression so it is not blowing throu it's travel.

Thank you for the input. So I guess the question boils down to is the extra weight of the ccdb air over the rp23 worth it for a enduro race bike? Basically offering a slightly more controlled ride.
As my experience with the rp23 shock has me leaving the shock active on the climbing & turning the pro pedal switch on for the downhills for some g out or low speed compression so it is not blowing throu it's travel.